Archive for June 2nd, 2012
Dog domestication may have helped humans thrive while Neandertals declined
June 2nd, 2012 | 
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We all know the adage that dogs are man’s best friend. And we’ve all heard heartwarming stories about dogs who save their owners—waking them during a fire or summoning help after an accident. Anyone who has ever loved a dog knows the amazing, almost inexpressible warmth of a dog’s companionship and devotion. But it just might be that dogs have done much, much more than that for humankind. They may have saved not only individuals but also our whole species, by “domesticating” us while we domesticated them.
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Astronomers Discover Faintest Distant Galaxy
Astronomers at Arizona State University have found an exceptionally distant galaxy, ranked among the top 10 most distant objects currently known in space. Light from the recently detected galaxy left the object about 800 million years after the beginning of the universe, when the universe was in its infancy.
Science Daily
Gout Flares Tied to Foods High in Purines
Patients with gout who consumed high levels of purine-rich foods — including meats, organ meats, seafood, lentils, spinach, mushrooms, yeast, and beer — over a 2-day period increased their risk of flare almost five-fold, a case-crossover study showed.
What are purines and in which foods are they found?
Purines are natural substances found in all of the body's cells, and in virtually all foods. The reason for their widespread occurrence is simple: purines provide part of the chemical structure of our genes and the genes of plants and animals. A relatively small number of foods, however, contain concentrated amounts of purines. For the most part, these high-purine foods are also high-protein foods, and they include organ meats like kidney, fish like mackerel, herring, sardines and mussels, and also yeast.